The Namikage
by DeathGodSlayer
Summary: Chousekigakure. An up and coming Hidden Ninja Village, rising from an poverish land and quickly establishing itself as the main candidate to be included into the Five Great Ninja Village, it's leader being praised as a visionary. But who is this man?
1. The Issue With Beginnings

**The Namikage**

Chapter 1: The Issue of Beginnings

By DeathGodSlayer

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><p>"Namikage-sama," A long black haired boy entered the office, hair tied back formally, he was dressed in very formal robes, fitting loosely over his body. "You seem perplexed." He continued.<p>

He continued to stare out the window. "I was just thinking Haku," He replied calmly. "Just about the day we met, and how we came to this village. Do you remember what it was like, Haku?"

"I do." Haku spoke in return, staring out of the window, how the village lit up with happiness. "This land was impoverish, filled with sadness. But you, Namikage-sama, you created it, gave life to the area and created a village almost equal to the five great nations. Chousekigakure, from Nami no Kuni."

"It was not me alone who made this village prosperous, I have you to than, Haku. And the money of a corrupt man." The Namikage stared up at the sky, shining brightly for his village. "And the will power necessary to pull it off."

Haku smiled, stepping closer to the Namikage, looking out of the window more clearly. "Yes, but you never would have done all of this if it wasn't for him..."

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><p>Those stares, they were constantly on his back. Never leaving for one second. And it was beginning to annoy him. His blue eyes could only glare at so many of them in return, but they would always outnumber him.<p>

_'I need something sweet.'_ His mind told him, a smile growing on his face. He changed direction, ignoring the villagers when they jumped from him getting too close to them.

There was a popular candy store near the edge of the main shopping street in Konoha, all the children in his Academy class spoke about it constantly, especially since it was having some big sale this weekend.

_'I can't wait! I'm gonna buy half the shop!'_ Naruto thought enthusiastically as he ran down the street, eager to get to the shop.

It was finally with his vision, as expected, children clamoured inside and outside of the shop, desperate to get in a raid the shop for whatever candy the shop had left. Naruto noticed the large queues, but he was never one for waiting.

"OUT OF THE WAY!" He yelled as he jumped over the crowd, using them as a makeshift higher platform, ran over the top of them and jumped into the shop. Landing safely over the crowd sandwiching the door, Naruto turned around to tease them, sticking his tongue out and pulling his lower left eyelid.

"Absolutely not!" A man shouted behind him, all the squirming of the children in the door halted, staring in utmost shock. The pleasant, friendly shop owner, always adorning a gentle smile on his face, glared furiously down at Naruto. Sheer fury spread across his face, a broomstick clenched tightly in his hands. "I won't have you anywhere near my shop! Now get out!" He began pushing Naruto back out the door with the broom, the children spreading like the rumoured shinobi with enough power to split the sea. One particular hard push and Naruto yelped in pain, dropping the money he had been saving for months, finding penny after penny after penny scattered across the streets of Konoha and collecting it.

The elderly man bent down to pick up a bundle of the money, looking back up to Naruto with a look of disgust. "And return this to whoever you stole it from!" He angrily scattered the money at Naruto's feet, who stood there with a stunned silence, a tear dropped from his eye.

_'Why?...'_ He asked himself, the stares of hatred, the barring from shops he visited for the first time, the denial of any decent to call his own. Anger began growing inside him, his teeth clenched together.

"What the hell did I ever do to you?" The young boy screamed at the old man, giving him quite a scare, leaping back and retracting the broom.

Naruto's body darted around in a circle staring at the eyes of the surrounding crowd of adults and children. "What the hell did I ever do to any of you?" He screamed again, looking around, no one seemed to want to answer him, either looking away or hardening their gaze on him. "ANSWER ME!"

"_**Ku ku ku ku.**_" A deep voice chuckled evilly, the voice echoing through the streets. "_**I know what you did.**_"

Naruto froze as the voice called out to him, looking around for it's origin, he eventually just quietly replied. "What do you know?"

"_**This isn't the place to talk about it.**_" The voice replied highly amused at the situation. "_**You must get away from Konoha, leave immediately. And I shall tell you everything that has been kept secret about you.**_"

"But I don't want to leave Konoha." Naruto replied truthfully, despite all these horrible people's harsh, hate filled stares. He liked Konoha, it was always sunny, the Jiji Hokage was always there for him and the old man at the ramen stand were always so nice to him. "Besides, it's not like I could get far, what with the guards blocking the main gates, and I could never outrun them for long."

The voice only replied with a deep dark chuckle. "_**Very well. Were I to give you the tools to escape, would you take them? Would you free yourself from the cage that is Konoha, and fly freely through the skies. Would you leave behind all these hateful people, who you have done nothing to bring them harm**_."

"Yeah." Naruto spoke in agreement, taking one more look at the people around him, who were listening intently to him reply, staring at him as if he was some kind of monster.

The voice laughed louder. "_**Excellent. We leave immediately.**_"

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><p>Pain flooded him. Entering every area of his body like a flowing current of electricity, Naruto felt power surging through him. Not a good type of power though, this one was filled with dark intentions.<p>

The crowd began taking steps back in fear, the ones at the back beginning to opt to running away. A thick red shroud enveloped the boy, seeping through his skin, the usually thin whisker marks thickened and darkened, the eerily familiar bright blue orbs morphed into blood red with long slitted pupils.

Instantly the crowd dispersed, screaming and shrieking in sheer terror, yelling that 'it had returned.' Naruto choose to ignore it. He felt stronger, faster, better.

He lunged forwards, his speed had improved greatly, but he felt off balance, dropping his hands to the floor, he sprinted on all fours, weaving through the screaming streets of Konoha. Ignoring any opposition in his way. People dived out of his path, yet no one made any attempts to stop him, even the shinobi had frozen in fear of him.

Suddenly the gates came into view, staring at him like a big barrier, growling Naruto picked up his speed, hoping to blast through the open gates and ensure his escape.

The two guards had prepared themselves, staring back ready to attack, however, the kunai in their hands rattled slightly. They weren't completely devoid of fear of the thing approaching them.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Naruto roared, his words were backed with a shockwave of sorts, erupting from his mouth, it blew the two guards back, separating them and opening the gates. His path was clear.

His speed increased, in a split second his world had changed, one moment he was behind Konoha's walls, the next, he was outside them. He ran down the path, his speed tearing it up. A smile adorned his angry face.

He was free.

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><p>Sarutobi felt the surge through his old bones immediately, staring at the front gates of his village from his office window. <em>'Naruto...'<em> Sarutobi looked at the gates sadly, Naruto was most likely long gone by now, but he would still be traceable by even Chunin.

"Sandaime-sama!" A mob of civilians and Shinobi exploded through his office door, very little space save for behind his desk was available. "You must have felt the surge of Kyuubi's chakra too! Proper action must be taken! The Jinchuuriki must be arrested for attempting to harm the civilians!" A Chunin shinobi called out for Naruto's blood, cheers of agreement came from the mob.

"And why does Naruto deserve an arrest?" Sarutobi asked, calmly slipping onto his comfy chair.

The villagers looked at their aged leader baffled. "Did you not hear us, Sandaime-sama? He released the chakra of the Kyuubi, created a menacing scene in the streets and fled the village immediately!"

"And who is to blame for that?" Sarutobi asked tiredly, how his old bones ached. "The Yondaime Hokage had left one simple wish, his death wish. One that Konoha refused to honour. You, the villagers and shinobi discarded young Naruto like littered trash. You refused to acknowledge his very existence, and thus his anger built up inside him, allowing the Kyuubi to manipulate his negative emotions more easily. This could have been avoided, but it has happened. Aren't you glad that young Naruto is gone, that is, after all what you wanted from the beginning."

"But he was a nobody, Sandaime-sama. High praise should only be directed at those with the highest standing, such as yourself, the Sannin, the Uchiha." The civilians shouted, although the shinobi seemed to have silenced.

"Yet, the Yondaime himself started out as nothing. Where in the history books has a Namikaze been named? He was unknown, but was given the opportunity to flourish. Something that was denied to Naruto." Sarutobi sighed. "Besides, Naruto-kun could never have just been nothing, both in his heritage and his status."

"What do you mean, Sandaime-sama?" The mob had called considerably, now looking at their aged leader genuinely confused.

"His Jinchuuriki status. All of the five great shinobi villages MUST have a Jinchuuriki, it is s display of the Kage's power. That is why Takigakure is close to being named the sixth great ninja village, it came into possession on Nanabi after it ran amok and fled Sunagakure." Sarutobi explained. "Without a Jinchuuriki at all, Konoha will now look weaker in the eyes of the other shinobi villages, especially considered Kumo, Kiri and Iwa all have two Jinchuuriki each."

"And, for some reasoning I can not comprehend. I could never understand what went on in the mind of the Yondaime Hokage, Minato. He was also so relaxed and calm, but for some reason or another, the vault containing the secrets to the Rasengan, the Hiraishin and all his other jutsu will only react to the blood of the one he deemed the hero of Konohagakure, Naruto Uzumaki." Sarutobi sighed heavily, he may have just given away the true identity of Naruto, but he did not give any specific reason.

The mob looked startled, being told by their leader that their village was now weaker was never a good thing. "We must bring Naruto back immediately." One villager spoke, soon cheers of agreement came from everyone, perhaps they were just after the Yondaime's jutsu, or perhaps they wanted to save face and have Konoha keep it's title as the strongest village, but it was certainly not just because they wanted him back.

They began leaving almost immediately, vacating the room on their search for Naruto outside and leaving the aged man alone, turning in his chair to face the sun in the window, Naruto's shining smile, even in the face of all his adversity just as bright.

"Naruto, I cannot force you from your path. If being away from Konoha is what it takes for you to be happy and free, then it is a loss that Konoha will have to take, after all, you'd probably be put under constant supervision should you return here, maybe even jail."

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><p>Naruto ran far, he hadn't looked back once, the red shroud had long since faded, yet his body still continued to carry him far, passing from blue clear skies, filled with resemblance and nostalgia, to dark grey clouds, who knows what lay underneath them.<p>

A drop of rain hit his face, followed by more splashing across his body, it was a gentle rain.

"_**Seems even the heavens themselves are trying to cleanse you of Konoha's neglect.**_" The voice had a musing tone to it.

Naruto stopped, it was as far as he could go, literally, an inch further and he would have fallen off the cliff into the sea below.

"This is far enough!" Naruto barked back at the voice, leaving Konoha, running away, it was all his idea, and what had Naruto actually got from it? "Now tell me what you know?" He ordered.

The voice replied with a evil, victorious chuckle. "_**I'd rather just show you...**_"

Naruto felt his body drain, he knew the feeling, it happened regularly when he trained himself. _'I can't black out now.'_ Naruto fought against the urge to collapse, his eyes caught glimpse of the fall below him, he'd die if he fell from here into the blue ocean below.

But he couldn't continue fighting the urge to fall into unconscious. _'Please, let me fall backwards.'_ Naruto prayed to any god out there. Have him fall back onto the ground, rather than forwards into the see.

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><p>Naruto stood in front of a large cage in a dark room, the room light up with the opening of two blood red eye, each over towering over his body. A mouth opened to a wide sly grin, revealing a set of sharp white fangs, even the teeth were bigger than Naruto's entire body.<p>

"_**You want to know why they hate you.**_" The beast in front of him chuckled with that familiar dark voice, the room lit up further, revealing a large red fox, nine tails curled around it's body as it sat in the cage. "_**I am the reason they hate you. It was all my doing.**_"

"I-I know you..." Naruto shakingly pointed to the beast, fear paralysing him, he had heard the stories, read the books. "Y-You're the Kyuubi. You tried to destroy Konoha nine years ago. But you were beaten by the Yondaime Hokage-"

"_**I WAS NOT BEATEN!**_" The Kyuubi roared at Naruto, Naruto dug his feet into the ground below, he felt as if the roar itself would carry his body away. "_**He has merely halted my attempts to destroy Konoha and take my revenge on him! And now my opportunity has arose!**_"

"Then why did you help me escape!" Naruto shouted in return.

"_**Simple.**_" The Kyuubi had calmed considerably. "_**The Sandaime Hokage...**_"

"Jiji." Naruto looked at the red beast incredulously. "What's he got to do with anything?"

"_**Believe it or not, but that man is a God among Shinobi.**_" Kyuubi replied with slight more interest. "_**Even in his ripe age, he is still one of the most powerful shinobi alive. He almost has enough power to equal my respect for Hashirama-sama. I couldn't risk attempting to escape under the Sandaime's watchful eye, who had inherited the very will of the Shodaime. So I waited, waited until their hateful stares bore into your very soul. And this is the result of my patience. I can finally escape this cage in peace! Away from any interference!**_"

That same red liquid oozed from the Kyuubi's cage at a rapid rate, flooding the room the two resided in, cutting off Naruto's escape, it spilled over his feet, before wrapping around his body.

_**'Yes, on the outside, he will have hit the eighth tail!'**_ Kyuubi stared with anxious glee. _**'One more and he won't have the control to stop me from escaping. This is it!'**_

Suddenly everything stopped, a bright light expelled from the small seal keeping it's cage shut. Cutting straight through it's chakra and wrapping around Naruto's small frame like a shield, the light shone brighter breaking down Kyuubi's chakra, shining it from existence.

_**'What is this?'**_ Kyuubi could no long look at the light, it was like a miniature sun. _**'What little **__**tricks did the Yondaime and that Kushina put into my seal?'**_

"You bastard." Kyuubi heard a voice speak, Kyuubi could see the light dimming through it's eyelids. Opening them, he found he was still looking at the sun, but this one was only similar in colour, and spikily framing a man's head. "How dare you do this?" The man glared at Kyuubi over his shoulder with frozen blue eyes, holding the smaller blonde bundle in his arms.

"_**THAT'S MY LINE!**_" Kyuubi roared ferociously down at the man, hate leaking from it and onto the man. "_**I THOUGHT I WAS FINISHED WITH YOU! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD, YONDAIME!**_"

_'What? Yondaime?_' Naruto began awakening, his eyes hazily opened, revealing himself being carried in the arms of the of the person whose back he chased the hardest. Everyone loved him, recognised his face. The Yondaime Hokage.

"Yondaime!" Naruto jumped out of the man's arms in a bumbling heap. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be dead- wait, you and I look a lot alike." Naruto pointed out, he had only seen the rocky carving of the Yondaime's image on the mountain. "How come I've never seen any pictures of you before?"

Said man only chuckled, completely ignoring the threat of the Kyuubi, scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I...don't like having my picture taken. I only do it when it's absolutely necessary." He spoke rather embarrassed, an emotion Naruto didn't expect the hero of Konoha to have.

"So what are you doing here, Yondaime?" Naruto quizzically asked.

The Yondaime's smile faltered, forming a sad expression on his face. "You should probably already realise this by now, but I had to seal the Kyuubi inside you. But I sealed a portion of my chakra into the seal so I could come help you if you were in a pinch. It was the least I could do, I committed something you had no consent in, so I'm sorry."

_'So that's it.'_ Naruto thought with a sadder expression. _'We were taught that the Yondaime defeat the Kyuubi, but never how. So this is why...' _Naruto remembered there hateful stares, suddenly a motive came behind them, the villagers were still hurting.

But it wasn't Naruto's fault. None of this was, yet they still hated him. Something Naruto doubted he could ever truly forgive.

"Although..." The Yondaime continued. "I'm surprised to see you so young, I wished this meeting would have waited until you were a little older. How old are you exactly, Naruto?"

"You know my name!" Naruto's face lit up, the fear of the Kyuubi standing near him all but vanished. "The Yondaime Hokage knows my name! Take that Kiba and Sasuke!" Naruto jumped in glee, before looking at the Yondaime, he smiled widely back down. "Sorry." Naruto replied embarrassed. "I'm nine."

"Nine..." The Yondaime sighed. "I'm sorry Naruto. You're life couldn't have been easy, living with the Kyuubi and all. I had asked that you be treated as a hero, but I realise that I could have done so much more for you. I could have survived and you could have had a father."

"My father?" Naruto screeched. "You know who he is?" He spoke hopefully.

The Yondaime grinned widely, flashing both sets of teeth, he pointed to his own face with his thumb. Naruto's eyes widened. "You're my dad." He replied shakingly. "That's...so...COOL!" Naruto's face lit up again. "So I really am destined for greatness!" He yelled in joy. "I told them I'd be a super powerful shinobi!"

He stopped in his tracks at that moment, realisation struck him, the Kyuubi, no matter it's intentions had shown him the truth. "But I can't go back to Konoha. I just can't."

"I understand." The Yondaime smiled weakly. "But whatever you do, just know that I'm proud of you." He smiled again, earning a wider smile from Naruto.

Looking back over to the Kyuubi's cage, he tutted disappointed. "Well, going up to eight tails really did a number on the seal. I can fix it this once, but that's it." He turned fully to face the seal, slapping his hands together.

"What?" Naruto's eyes widened, a tear forming in his eye. "But I've only just met you, I just found out who you really are!"

"I know and I'm sorry. But I have to restrengthen the seal." The Yondaime replied sadly. "This is probably the last time we will see each other. But you still have something to look forward to. When the time comes when you're ready to finally control the Kyuubi you'll see what I mean."

"But I don't want you to go!" Naruto wrapped his little arms around the Yondaime's waist, hugging his back, he wanted to help, he didn't want his dad to go so soon, he had just got one!

Minato felt a wave through his body. _'What?_' He thought. _'I am nothing more than a ghost, yet Naruto's chakra. I can feel it flowing through me.'_

Taking the initiative, Naruto summoned a mixture of Naruto's and his own chakra, it morphed around the seal on Naruto's stomach and the paper seal of the door, what was once tattered and burnt was replaced with a brand new looking sheet of paper. The seal on Naruto's stomach contorted back to it's original form.

"_**You bastard, Yondaime!"**_ Kyuubi smashed against the cage bars. "_**I will get out! Mark those words!**_" The Kyuubi repeatedly battered against the cage, in a futile attempt to free itself.

Minato sighed in relief. _'Amazing,' _he looked at his hand in astonishment. _'I still have so much chakra left. Enough for another use, and now Naruto's own chakra is incorporated into the seal, I wonder what will happen to his control over the Kyuubi's chakra.'_

He felt the clutching around his waist loosen, spinning his head, Naruto was exhausted, falling backwards onto the ground slowly.

Minato turned and gave a gentle tap to Naruto's head, he suspended in the air, floating down the corridor leading back to the conscious world.

"Do me a favour Naruto," Minato smiled as his son's body floated away. "make it so you don't have to see me for a few more years at least. But I'll always be here, in case you ever need me..."

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><p>Naruto's body began going numb, he couldn't control his wobbling movements. His body fell forwards, tumbling from the cliff to the sea below, the last thing Naruto felt was the spray of the salty sea water hitting his face, just before he submerged into the blue depths.<p>

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><p>"So where are we going, Zabuza-san?" The scruffy black haired boy asked him, a cheerful smile on his face.<p>

"We need to find somewhere recluse, where we can hide and strengthen our forces." Zabuza replied annoyed. If he knew there were going to be so many questions, he would have made Haku join him.

"So why are we walking down a beach?" Haku asked again, obviously not getting the hint to stop asking questions.

"Beaches help my think, my home was near a beach so I would also walk down the beach when I needed to think. The first time I ever thought of a Coup d'etat was as I felt the sea between my toes." Zabuza replied. _'No more questions after that.'_ He ordered himself in his mind, he hated thinking about his home.

"Well- wait Zabuza-san look!" Haku pointed forwards along the beach. A small blonde boy had washed ashore on the beach, laying face down motionlessly. Haku immediately darted towards the boy, while Zabuza took a more leisurely pace.

Haku skidded across the wet sand, flipping the boy onto his back, the boy was obviously unconscious. Haku cradled his head, giving it extra support.

"Leave him, Haku. Let's go." Zabuza ordered, looking impassively to the blond boy.

"But we have to do something to save him." Haku returned, looking back up to Zabuza with a pleading eye.

"Why? This boy has done for us except waste our time." Zabuza returned annoyed, however his eyes caught a black marking on the boy's stomach, using his foot to roll the boy's soaked orange shirt up, it revealed to be part of an intricate design.

_'A seal? For what?' _Zabuza questioned, suddenly his mind clicked. He had been needing to increase the number of hands that he possessed. _'Whatever it is, it must be of importance. Perhaps he will be of use to me.'_

"Very well, Haku." Zabuza sighed, earning a smile of appreciation from Haku, crouching down to one knee, Zabuza placed his hand over the boy's chest, a sea blue colour shroud surrounded his hand.

"What are you doing?" Haku quizzed, it appeared to be some sort of medical jutsu.

"I'm using my chakra to attract the water in his lungs. Now shut up, I need to concentrate." Zabuza ordered, as he felt the water moving around in his lungs, he gently guided it up the boy's oesophagus and out of his mouth, where it dribbled out.

But the boy began coughing hoarsely, his body searching for anyway available oxygen. He spluttered and wheezed, all the while Haku rubbing and patting his back.

The boy's eyes fluttered open, looking to the two people hovering over him. "Who are you?" He asked weakly.

"The people who saved your life. You should be more grateful to us." The taller man spoke, bandages covered the lower half of his face and he carried a large sword on his back, his attire was similar to a shinobi, but it's design was different to any Konoha shinobi uniform.

"My name is Haku, and this is Zabuza-san." The closer boy spoke, with long scruffy black hair and hazel eyes. He smiled down at the boy.

"Haku, Zabuza. Thank you for saving me." He replied weakly, trying to sit himself up.

"Save you gratitude." Zabuza corrected himself moments ago. "If you are truly thankful, then you will join me, and repay your debt to me and Haku."

_'Why shouldn't I go with them?'_ Naruto asked himself, he had nowhere else to go. And this man looked strong, he could protect him until he was ready to venture out on his own. "Okay." Naruto smiled, nodding in agreement.

"Good. Now we leave right away, don't lag behind." Zabuza spoke, beginning to walk on as Haku helped the boy to his feet. "And what's your name." Zabuza spoke, not looking back over his shoulder.

Haku helped him to stand, sling his arm around his neck, but still Naruto grinned. "My name's Naruto Uzumaki."

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><p><strong>AN:** Well there you have it! Chapter 1 of my new fic, The Namikage, my take on the whole, Naruto leaves Konoha and goes to a new village cliche. Remember to R.E.R, Read, Enjoy, Review. If you don't mind allow me to explain where I got the idea for this fic.

Well there I was reading through Mizukage by Dragon6, when for some reason or another I thought about all these Naruto leaves/moves/gets taken to Uzugakure at a young age and is put in charge of the entire village, and I just sat there thinking; 'what an unbelievable idea/' no offence if you have done a story like that, but putting a 6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13 year old in charge of an entire village, WTF, the same could be said about Gaara, who was 15 when he became Kazekage, although unbelievable, but more beleivable than a 8 year old becoming the leader. History lesson. King Henry VIII's son became King when he was 9, you know what happened? He died. That might not have anything to do with being the leader, but still. Anyway, I wanted to make a believable version of that idea, so you'll see why in the coming chapters.

On the topic of next chapter, in no way am I slowing my production of Demon Lacrima. This is to just get the idea out of my mind and posted. I will update Demon Lacrima regularly and this irregularly. Sometimes I may update 3 chapters, othe rtimes I may not update at all, but at least expect one chapter every month.

Well anyway, thanks for taking the time to read The Namikage. I hope you will stick around to see where I go with this fic.

D.G.S


	2. A Plan And Accomplice

**The Namikage**

Chapter 2: A Plan And Accomplice

by DeathGodSlayer

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><p>"So where are we going?" Both Haku and the new blond boy, Naruto spoke in exact unison. The same question, spoken every second like a couple of parrots mimicking each other.<p>

Zabuza was long past growing frustrated, every fibre of his body told him to just drop the two kids off somewhere and be on his own way, failing that take his big sword and just shut both of their mouths permanently. But Zabuza knew not to give into this temptation, Haku's Kekkei Genkai and natural prowess and this blond boy, as mysterious as he was, Zabuza felt that it would be better to keep Naruto near him.

"So are we returning to your village, Zabuza?" Naruto asked, noting the headband on the man's head, despite the large gash through it.

"No. We are getting away from it. And to answer your previous question, we are going into the forest and building a safe house. Why, is there a problem with that?" Zabuza glared down at the blond boy angrily.

The boy shrugged his shoulders lazily, apparently not getting the message. "No, I just thought you were going to do something bigger than build a safehouse."

"And what is it you want to do?" Zabuza couldn't believe he let himself ask that question.

"Me? One day I'm going to build a Hidden Village of my own. You and Haku are welcome to come visit anytime you want though." Naruto grinned, his new dream was even bigger than becoming Hokage, something he couldn't do anymore. So he would build his own village and become the FIRST Kage of it, instead of being the fifth of Konoha.

Zabuza scoffed loudly. "That is a stupid dream, don't get your hopes up. You'll be working for me until the day you die."

"Then why not build a village of your own? That's gotta be better than some crummy old safehouse."

Zabuza's mind clicked, an idea forming in his head. Why not build his own village? _'Once a ninja is allied with a village, even if they defected from another village, they are no longer classed as missing-nin and all hunters are called off. And becoming a Kage would only raise the protection around myself.'_ Zabuza smirked under his bandage mask, plans and opportunities forming in his head, he zoned out from everything else in the world, focusing solely on the idea creating in his mind. '_I would need a large amount of land, preferably in a country without an existing defence system. I would also need resources, a vast amount of resources, something I obviously lack at the moment._'

"Hey Zabuza. I'm hungry. Can you get us some food?" Naruto asked the man, he had been staring blankly at the road ahead for a while now.

"Yes." Zabuza replied absently mindedly, concurring with Naruto's suggest. _'I would need the resource of food.'_

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><p>"Here. Eat" Zabuza ordered, tossing the cooked fish towards Naruto and Haku, he began devouring the caught meal immediately. He couldn't believe he so easily agreed to hunt their food for them. Better yet, when did he agree to get them food?<p>

Picking up a fish for himself, he undid the bandages around his lower face, dropping so they hung loosely around his neck, Zabuza took a re large chunk of the fish out with his shark teeth. Munching on it quietly, he turned to see the little blond staring at him curiously. "What?" Tiny chunks of fish spluttered from his mouth.

"Nothing, just your teeth are kinda cool." Naruto mumbled quietly, biting back into his own fish again.

Zabuza went unresponsive to his comment, inside his head his mind was furiously at work. Could he really create a village of his own? Would he be able to make it a stable place to live? As soon as the village goes under the Hunter-nin would be able to attack and take him down. He would have to make sure that he could make the village prosperous.

But to do that he would need an unstable land, to show that his village brought it together? "But where..." Zabuza mumbled aloud. "Where is an unstable bit of land which I can use to build a village?"

"I would recommend Nami no Kuni." Zabuza's eyes widened in alarm, he wasn't expecting an answer, he quickly took hold of his blade and spun around, pointing the tip in the direction of the noise. A pair of feet were visible, however the rest of the body was hidden the the shadows of the tree. "As expected of the Demon of the Hidden Mist." The person chuckled unfazed by the threat of Zabuza's massive blade.

"Who are you boy?" Zabuza gritted out, the voice was obviously not deep enough to be a full grown man.

The feet leisurely moved out of the darkness. A boy, older than Haku smiled at Zabuza. His hair was black and spiky, with all the bangs save one were pushed out of his face, the remaining black bang dangling on the bridge of his nose. His eyes were black in colour, with a visible scar running down his left eye, with another scar just below it on his cheek. His shirt was a grey-black and fit tightly around his chest, with the right sleeve being completely removed and the left sleeve being cut around the top of the shoulder, revealing a mesh under shirt underneath, the sleeve a lot looser than the rest of the shirt with a green fabric running around the bottom of the sleeve. On his hands were black gloves with a same green fabric pattern going around the wrists of the gloves. He wore black, very baggy pants, again with a green elastic belt around his waist and green patterns going along the fabric, the baggy pants were tucked into near knee high grey boots. With two accessories on his waist, one was a ninja tool bag on his left hip as opposed to being at the back and a thin gold chain hanging loosely around his leg. On his back was the most peculiar weapon Zabuza has ever seen in appearance, it was a full blade, but shaped like an archer's bow, with two handles on the straight edge and teeth like ridges along the curving edge, with a dent in the centre of the curve, going back in, making it as if the blade had a similar function as the semicircle on his own blade. The blade was hung on the boy's back by a black string.

Rummaging through his ninja bag, the boy brought out a headband, throwing at Zabuza's feet. Zabuza flipped it over so he could see it's origin. A high table design with curved legs outwards, three lines jutting from the top in different directions. "You're from Haigakure. That's all the way in Kazen no Kuni. Who are you?"

"My name is Nokoribi Kasō. And I WAS from Haigakure." The boy identified himself, smirking, he leaned against the tree he had been previously standing behind.

"Wait, Kasō? As in the Kasō Clan? As in the ruling family of Haigakure, Kasō?" Zabuza scoffed disbelievingly. "There's no way a Kasō clan member would be so far away from Haigakure, the Kasō Clan forbids it."

Nokoribi nodded. "I was away on a mission just on the border of Kazen no Kuni. While I was away the villagers and shinobi performed a coup d'etat and overthrew my father and killed him, as well as my older brother, younger sister and my mother. So I burnt the village to the ground and their 'new leaders' along with it." The boy explained, strolling leisurely to the fire and sat down next to it, taking a fish from the fire. "Itadakimasu." He waved his free hand at Zabuza before taking a bite of the fish, nodding in a greeting manner at the blond boy staring at him wide eyed.

"So you cut all ties from your home and destroyed your own village. I'm quite impressed." Zabuza spoke an in equally impressed tone.

"It wasn't my home when I returned." Nokoribi spoke quietly, taking another bite of the fish.

"So why did they do a coo detat?" The blond boy next to him asked, looking at him with wide blue eyes.

"Coup d'etat." The black haired boy corrected. "They believed that the Kasō Clan were only working to benefit themselves. Complete nonsense really. My Great Grandfather battled the Yonbi in order to get it out of the volcano where the village is located, losing his life in the process. My grandfather spent decades building the village inside the Yonbi's previous lair, building it into a habitual environment for humans to live in. My father spent years making the economy and village prosperous, only working for ourselves. Everything my family has done has been for them, and this is how they repay us. With hate and death." The black haired boy scoffed insultingly, taking the final bite of his fish stick.

_'He's like me...'_ Naruto stared at the black haired boy._ 'All alone, and hated.'_

"Anyway, I intend to start again as my great gramps did, somewhere near the sea, I've never seen it before. So I'm offering my help in your plan, Zabuza." He spoke with his mouth still half full from the last bite of fish.

"And why should I accept?" Zabuza asked quizzically, grasping the handle of his sword tighter, he didn't need anymore kids following him around.

"Because my father taught me and my older brother everything there is that is needed to know about running a village. He hoped that my big brother would lead the village when he retired, but he wanted me to be prepared as well in case my brother wasn't able. Plus, in order to create a village you need shinobi, both with and without extraordinary abilities. Konohagakure has the Byakugan and Sharingan, Iwagakure has Blast Release, Kirigakure has The Seven Swordsman and Boil Release, Kumogakure has Storm Release and Sunagakure has Scorch Release and the Iron Sand ability. You need someone like me." Nokoribi smirked, his offer was hard to decline, even for someone like Zabuza.

"Before I agree, you must tell me why you suggested Nami." Zabuza replied strongly, this kid might actually have some decent ideas considering how he was raised.

Nokoribi smirked, lifting up one finger. "One, Nami no Kuni is a small country, practically just one big island. The country has no organise defense regiment, everyone on our continent relies on either Shinobi or Samurai, Nami has neither. If you made the request of constructing a village to the Daimyo, it will be hard for him to decline."

He then lifted up a second finger alongside his first. "Two, Nami no Kuni has gone under some 'new management' if you will recently. He's a menace to the single village in the country, cutting off all their resources and destroying their morale by brutally killing their hero of the village. You get rid of him, and all the villagers will be so grateful they will do anything you ask, especially if you say you want to strengthen and protect their village."

"But that doesn't dodge the matter of resources. Nami no Kuni is poor, even the Daimyo has little money. Do you know how much will be needed to bring the country out of poverty."

Nokoribi's smile only grew. Holding up two new fingers. "A man from the village, Tazuna has begun building a bridge that will connect the country to the main land, providing a boost in the economy. And second, the man terrorizing Nami no Kuni is Gatō."

"Of the Gatō Corporation?" Zabuza sounded surprised.

The black haired boy only nodded. "The very same. Gatō, the richest man in the world. And didn't I say earlier that my plan is to kill him."

An evil smirk grew on Zabuza's own face. "You aim to kill him and steal all his money. And then using the godly sum, build the foundations of the village, get food and equipment for the village, and use the already existing manpower of the villagers, who will be so overly grateful to you. You have really thought this through."

"So do you intend to kill me now, Zabuza," Nokoribi's smirked faded, reaching for his blade as he stood up. "And take my plan for your own."

"No, that won't be necessary. I think you will do well in my new village." Zabuza smirked, sticking his blade back in the ground. "It might me good to have a round the clock babysitter for these two until the village is complete."

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><p>Naruto bounced around the small opening where Zabuza had lead him, excitement and anticipation. "I can't wait until we make our own village, then I can be the leader of a whole village myself!"<p>

"Shut up!" Zabuza yelled, scaring the boy into calming down. "There's no way I would let you rule the village. You are far too young and not nearly strong enough. Your training begins now!"

"My training!" Naruto's excitement grew again, he had never had a personal trainer for anything. But he looked around curiously. "Wait a minute, shouldn't we wait for Haku."

"Haku has completed the basic training and is now able to learn Jutsu." Zabuza explained calmly.

"Cool! So all I got to do is ace this training and I can learn some Jutsu!" The excitement grew in the younger blond even further.

_'This is going to be torture for me.'_ Zabuza mentally sighed. "I have only one rule for my training." His words calmed the blond boy down again, who looked back in interest. "If you can't keep up, lay down and die." Zabuza glared angrily, the boy jumped back in shock.

Reaching for his massive blade Zabuza carved a straight line through the earth at his feet, before swinging the sword and throwing it at the boy's feet. The blade sunk into the ground between the boy's legs, going as deep sinking past the full circle at the end of his sword.

"This is your first task, building strength, endurance and patience. You are to remove the sword from the ground and brining it across the line." Zabuza near ordered.

Naruto laughed loudly, a large grin spread across his face. "Move a sword? This will be a piece of cake!"

Zabuza himself chuckled at the boy's cluelessness. "You are not to approach myself or Haku until you have completed the task. You will not eat our food, be warmed by our fires, you will not even sleep anywhere near us until you have completed this task. And we will not be staying here long, so if you cannot complete even this task. I will deem you unworthy of being trained under me and I will leave you behind." Zabuza said nothing more, turning immediately and leaving the blond boy to do his training.

Naruto laughed loudly as Zabuza walked away._ 'Move a sword, then I can continue onto the next stage of training!'_ He thought confidently, grasping the handle of the sword in his little hands, he pulled.

Nothing happened. He pulled again, much harder this time, again nothing. And now he realised. _'Just how heavy is this thing?' _He screamed in his mind, he knew it was going to be heavier than most swords, but this must have weighed about 50 tonnes!

Struggling, he continued attempting to yank the sword from it's earthly cage. '_This is going to take a lot longer than I thought.'_ He sighed in his mind, taking a breather already.

* * *

><p>Even the sun had left him now, once blue skies being replaced with darkening orange, many of the birds had stopped singing, yet his grunting still rang through their section of the forest.<p>

He had been attempting to pull the sword from the earth for hours, but still he had not even moved it the slightest of centimetres, the sword wasn't upright, is was diagonal, at first he thought that might have made things easier, because he could actually reach the handle, but no. It still remained as stubborn as ever.

"Come on!" Naruto screamed, pushing down on the swords handle, hoping instead of pulling it out he could break the sword free by cutting back up through the earth.

His teeth clenched together, standing over the sword he now pulled the handle towards him, his yells of anger gritted out through his teeth.

Suddenly! It only lasted half a second, but he felt it. Dropping his hands, he looked around where the sword connected into the earth. A gap, only a couple of centimetres big, but a gap around the sword, some breathing space for the metal. A wide, victorious grin shot onto Naruto's face.

Jumping back up to his feet he lifted his head towards the heavens. "PROGRESS!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, laughing afterwards, birds close by flew away at the startling sound.

Completely unawares as he laughed up towards the heavens, a figure watched him from the shadows of a tree. Zabuza had been there for a while watching the boy struggle to move the sword, he himself saw the sword move just by a fraction.

Zabuza gave a quick nod of approval before moving back into the darkness, heading back towards the camp base.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Hey there! D.G.S here. Well that was Chapter 2, remember to R.E.R, Read, Enjoy, Review. This chapter was a lot shorter than the previous one and for that I apologise.

Now there will be quite a few OCs in this fic, the first one makes his debut. Nokoribi Kasō , I have a oicture of him on my profile. I am going to say this now and this counts for all other OCs, All credit goes to the artist who created the Oc or the person who invented them. I deserve no credit for there appearance, I am just giving them names (if they already do not have one) and abilities. Just saying.

Well we actually got somewhere this chapter, now I'm not sure whether to go straight to the assassination or fool around training abit more.

BIG HEADS UP! there won't be a Canon wave arc, hopefully I will skip straight to the Chunin Exam Arc with a fully functioning Chousekigakure no Sato (Village Hidden in the Tides).

Next chapter I will post a biography of Nokoribi, I quite like his character. And I have plans for Chouseki's main famous team, kinda like the Seven Swordsman or Ino-Shika-Cho. I don't want to spend too long in the past and hopefully get this story moving soon.

Well that's about it for now...

D.G.S


	3. Chousekigakure

**The Namikage**

Chapter 3: Chousekigakure (Village Hidden in the Tide)

by DeathGodSlayer_  
><em>

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><p><em>'I get it!'<em> Naruto though in his mind as he continued tugging at the sword, trying to free it from the ground. _'I get what this test is about, it's not just testing my strength and stamina, but my patience and determination as well!'_

Naruto continued pulling on the massive blade, already bringing it out half way over the course of the night, yet even with half it's weight out the ground it refused to be freed any faster than when he first started.

"How's your training coming along?" Naruto jumped about two feet into the air, startled by the sudden voice. He turned to see Nokoribi standing behind him with a small smile on his face.

"I can't talk right now, Zabuza forbade it. He'll leave me in the forest if I don't get this task completed." Naruto replied bluntly and angrily, the black spiky haired teenager had disrupted his training.

Nokoribi shrugged his shoulders in tedium. "How rude, and here I was going to show you a jutsu that would speed up your training." His voice matched his bored expression and stance.

Naruto's ears burned at the mention of a jutsu. "Really?" He asked in surprise, no one wanted to teach him a jutsu before, he didn't have parents and the Hokage was too busy to teach him anything he hadn't even joined the academy at Konoha before he left. "Well can I see it?"

Nokoribi smirked, placing his hands in the tiger seal. "_**Flame Clone Technique!**_" He called out, next to him in a burst of flames an exact copy of himself burst into appearance. Nokoribi and his clone both moved into a relaxed stance, performing the same smirk at the astonished Naruto's face.

"Wow! I've never seen a _**Bunshin**_ like that before!" Naruto spoke in astonishment, he had seen the regular _**Bunshin**_ be created, and the Kage Bunshin being performed a few times, but he never saw one being created from fire.

"These are different than normal _**Bunshin**_, they can take a few more hits than usual. Just like Kage Bunshin, there are many different types of _**Bunshin**_: Water Clone, Clay Clone, Earth Clone, Rock Clone, Lightning Clone, Sand Clone, the variety is endless. You can found out a person's origins just by the style of _**Bunshin**_ they use. The Flame Clone is unique to Kazen no Kuni, and since the ninja from that place are no more, I must pass it on so it's legacy can survive." Nokoribi explained briefly. "Besides that wasn't what I wanted to show you. You see, Clones have a unique capability, they can transfer everything they see, everything they accomplish, everything they learn back to the original. Transferring experience and memory, even experience in training. A ninja can cut down the time they spend training down dramatically with the use of clones, turning a jutsu that would take three days to learn to take about three hours to learn."

Nokoribi found that Naruto's face held an expression of confusion, probably unable to fully comprehend what he was saying without a visual aid. "A demonstration perhaps?" Nokoribi nodded at his clone, before walking away standing out of sight behind a tree.

"Naruto, I want you to hold up a number of fingers of your choosing, it can be which ever fingers you want it too be." Nokoribi's clone whispered to Naruto quietly.

Naruto nodded weakly, but performed the task nonetheless. He held up both little fingers, both thumbs and both index fingers, yet on his left hand he also held up his ring finger and on his right he also held up his middle finger.

Nokoribi's clone looked over Naruto's fingers before nodding. "Step back Naruto." The clone spoke, Naruto jumped back just before the clone burst into flames again, fading away until the ground was left with a small cinder coming from the burn mark left.

"You held up eight fingers," Nokoribi called out as he came back into view from behind the tree. "Both of your thumbs, little fingers and index fingers, but also your left ring finger and right middle finger." Nokoribi smirked at Naruto's eyes widening in surprise.

"Cool! Will you teach me that!" Naruto almost shouted in excited, cheering and punching the air at Nokoribi's nod of approval.

"Well our village is going to need very strong shinobi, especially at the beginning." Nokoribi smirked, remembering the plan, financial support for said plan would be coming tonight. "Let's begin, first off you have to mold your chakra..."

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><p>"Well that ought to keep Naruto busy for the rest of the night." Nokoribi spoke as he approached Zabuza and Haku, sitting around the cinders of where their fire once was. "As instructed, he is learning the clone technique, which may come in handy in the not too distant future."<p>

"Excellent, then we move, our plan begins tonight." Zabuza spoke as he rose from his seat. He had instructed Nokoribi to teach Naruto any technique, so he couldn't find out about their actions to night. "Haku, stay here and watch over Naruto, he's too valuable to lose."

"But why can't I come, Zabuza-san. I can fight." Haku pleaded, he wanted to be of more use to Zabuza than just a babysitter.

Zabuza turned, placing a hand on his young student's shoulder. "Haku, your heart is too pure to commit the deeds we are about to perform on this impure night. Stay here and watch Naruto, I will reveal to you the importance of that task when I return." Zabuza patted Haku's shoulder was before turning. "Come, Nokoribi, we begin now." Zabuza's eyes darted towards the spiky black haired teenager, who nodded in return, adjusting the 'Bow-Blade' on his back. "Excellent, let's move out."

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><p>Naruto panted hard, his hands placed on his knees to keep himself standing. Sweat dripped from all over him, looking around all his clones were in a similar position, all worn out from today's training.<p>

"It's seems a lot easier for me to make lot's of clones instead of just a few." Naruto spoke to himself, something else he had learn over the course of today. When he tried to make only five clones, they appeared lifeless, yet when he went for fifty, the sprung into life with such energy. Perhaps his chakra was just to large to make a small number of clones, or perhaps he just lacked control.

After seeing Nokoribi's demonstration of experience transference between clones and the original made Naruto plan out a whole new method of completing Zabuza's initial training. He had created two hundred clones and split them up into different groups. Fifty of the did pushing ups constantly, while another fifty did sit ups, while another fifty did lunges and lower body exercises. The final group of fifty focused on punching and kicking the air, building the speed and power behind each attack.

With a nod of the head Naruto dispelled all his clones, experience and memory came pouring into his body, but also pain and fatigue. Apparently clones would also transfer fatigue back to the original. 'I'll be sure not to do this too often then.' Naruto carefully planned ahead, he didn't want to injury himself too early before his career as a ninja actually began.

Naruto slowly moved over to the sword still dug into the ground. He grabbed the handle, and after pulling a few times, he easily pulled the sword from the ground. The sword wobbled in his hand, before Naruto flung it over his shoulder, holding it as Zabuza would sometimes. Naruto grinned widely at this new accomplishment. "Looks like I pass."

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><p>"Well that was impressive Zabuza." Nokoribi noted as he looked around at all the dead bodies filling the corridors of Gatō's hideaway. "I once believed that your skills relied solely on your sword." He now turned to the demon himself, all Zabuza carried in his hands were a pair of kunai, and he was yet to use a single jutsu against Gatō's minions, he barely looked affected by the tiresome task they had just completed of annihilating Gatō's underlings.<p>

"Hmph, then this will teach you not to underestimate me." Zabuza replied in a very insulted tone. "Besides, these underlings were pathetic, not even worth the time killing. But the deed is done, go spread the word of Gatō's demise Nokoribi. I'll clear up the mess here."

Nokoribi gave a audible chortle and a nod of the head, before disappearing in a unique _**Shunshin**_, it was like a cloud of ash enveloped him. Zabuza's only thought on that subject was to look into it later, there were many things he had not yet learned about Nokoribi, but he had proven himself useful. Zabuza turned to the trembling Gatō, a wet pool appearing in the centre of his pants. Zabuza grinned under his bandages at the sight, a man so cocky, so powerful economically wise, reducing to pissing his pants the first moment danger appears.

"Luckily for you no one will ever know about that." Zabuza chuckled darkly, tensing his hand, pointing the kunai towards the small frightened man.

"P-P-Please Zabuza," Gatō whimpered out feebly. "L-Let's settle this like businessmen. What will I have to give you in order for you to spare my life?" Gatō attempted to begin negotiating, trying to buy his life back from this demon. "I can offer you money, more money than you can possibly imagine. And career security, as my new bodyguard?"

Zabuza stood still and silent for a moment, Gatō's face lightened. The man not moving for the kill meant he must be contemplating it. Suddenly Zabuza's hand threw the kunai, the weapon burying into the wall just inches away from Gatō's face, needless to say the small man almost leapt out of his skin.

"I accept." Zabuza said the two words that sounded like voices of an angel to Gatō's ears. Zabuza walked towards Gatō, offering a hand to help him up. Gatō laughed loudly in relief, accepting the hand. Zabuza pulled him back to his feet easily. "I will take all your money." Zabuza's eyes widened madly, his free hand wrapped around Gatō's neck at the speed of a bullet, lifting him off the ground easily. "Goodbye Gatō, know that your money will for once help others and not just yourself." His grip tightened considerably, until the clicking sound of the small man's neck snapping rang through the room, Gatō's incessant squirming stopped as he went lifeless in Zabuza's grip.

Zabuza discarded the body on the floor, dropping it like litter. He moved over to Gatō's large desk, rooting through the drawers he found everything he needed. Bank details, access to Gatō's many bank accounts. He now had access to the billionaire's wealth, of which he intended to use correctly.

He also found the official seal stamp that belonged exclusively to Gatō, Zabuza took that as well, seeing it as a valuable object. He then turned to the corpse of the small man again. "Time to go," He spoke, picking up the corpse and flinging it over his shoulder. "And free this land."

* * *

><p>"People of Nami no Kuni, please listen to me!" Nokoribi stood in the centre of town, trying to attract the villagers' attentions. "You and your land are free now from the tyranny of Gatō. He is dead, no more will he inflict pain and suffering on your land!"<p>

He had expected cheers of relief, yet he was met with silence. An odd cough being emitted by a few townspeople. They all looked sceptically towards him, as if he was lying completely. "Go home, kid and stop embarrassing yourself. Gatō can not be killed, he's invincible." One man in the crowd spoke for the entire silent villagers, their eyes said it all, all of them hesitantly looking towards the ground, not daring to look back up.

"Then who is in my hand here?" Zabuza appeared next to Nokoribi, in his left hand were some papers. But in his right hand was what caught the villagers gasps of shock. Extended forwards, Zabuza's hand was tightly gripped around Gatō's head, his body hanging lifelessly underneath.

"G-G-Gatō's dead!" The villagers looked upon the corpse in horror. "This isn't good, his bodyguards are sure to-"

"They're all dead aswell." Zabuza butted in quickly, looking around to the entire crowd. "Listen up! Yet have rid you of this demon!" Zabuza shook Gatō's lifeless body before tossing it at the feet of a few villagers, their eyes followed the corpse. One villager couldn't resist the urge to test if he was truly dead, he gave the corpse one sharp kick to the skull, the neck bent unusually back, if he wasn't dead before, he certainly was now. "Yet still I offer you salvation!" Zabuza continued before the villagers had a moment of relief after being freed from their curse. Zabuza held up the pieces of paper in his hand high. "The bank account details of Gatō. I will use his money to free you from poverty and despair, however I only ask for one small thing in return!"

"You have freed us from a terrible fate, please whatever it is that you ask for, we will try to give it to you. This one thing you ask will never be able to express our everlasting gratitude though." A man with spiky grey hair with a large muscular body stood forwards, small round glasses over his eyes. A small boy with black hair wrapped around his leg.

Zabuza smirked, he had them. "I wish to have your land!" Zabuza called, shocking the villagers even further. "Allow me to use your land to build a ninja village! Allow me to continue to protect this place, train your children to defend it and themselves! Allow me to bring prosperity to this land!"

The villager's faces held the utmost surprise. No one had ever wanted to build a defence system in Nami no Kuni, certainly not a ninja village. Not even the Daimyo wanted to, it was too costly a price to pay to construct a ninja village, so it was left alone, being allowed to become worse and worse. The villager's answer was easy. Cheers broke out for the valiant man who saved them for a demon.

Zabuza smirk again victoriously. '_Things have happened a lot quicker than I could have possibly anticipated...'_

* * *

><p>"And that was it, wasn't it Haku?" The Namikage spoke as he leaned back in his chair, looking out of the window of his office to his village below. "Seems like only yesterday we killed Gatō and took all his money. Our village of Chousekigakure was built so quickly thanks to Naruto, Nokoribi and myself through the use of Mass Shadow clones. We have made this land prosperous, and we have made it worthy of acknowledgement."<p>

"And we have been recognised, Zabuza-san." Haku replied, addressing the Namikage by his real name. It was only when they spoke privately would Haku do so, addressing Zabuza with the utmost respect when around others.

"That we have. Finally, Chousekigakure has been given the opportunity to enter the Chunin Exams, the first time since our creation five years ago." Zabuza replied, smiling victoriously. It took Takigakure almost 15 years before it was given the opportunity to partake in the Chunin Exams, he and his village did it in one third of that time.

"Yes, but we only managed to secure places for three teams. Meaning we can only enter nine Genin. It was all the village could afford to enter at the moment, the five great ninja villages are still more popular for mission requests, but hopefully that will change when people see our ninja at the Chunin Exam." Haku replied honestly, the village had prospered greatly when looking back at before Chousekigakure was created, but it was nowhere near to the extent of the five great ninja villages.

"Yes, the cost to enter Genin into the Chunin Exam has risen considerably over the past few years." Zabuza replied, he had been keeping track of costs for the Chunin Exam should the event arise that he had an opportunity to enter.

"Who were you thinking of entering?" Haku answered not out of curiosity, but it was his job to ask. He would be the one to inform the soon to be participants and the team senseis.

"I was thinking of splitting the Rainbow Wave into two teams. You leading three of them and Nokoribi leading the other three." Zabuza answered, the Rainbow Wave were a group of six talented Genin, who had been waiting patiently for a chance of promotion. Each one was adept with specialised skills in certain areas. "Then I think have Team Kazushi fill the final gap, they've been waiting a while as well for promotion."

"I will inform them right away." Haku bowed his head respectfully, before he performed the _**Shunshin**_, teleporting out the room in an icy fog.

Zabuza didn't turn to face Haku as his student and assistant left the room, he continued only to stare out of the window of his office, lamenting on how the years had impacted him. _'Why is it, that the tendencies of evil in my mind has faded? Did I really just need something of that much importance to protect? Haku, Nokoribi, Naruto, and now Chousekigakure. They look to me for protection and leadership, and that is what I will give in return, I care only for the protection of my village.'_ Zabuza's thoughts hardened at the idea. The preservation of his village was now his utmost priority.

_'But who will protect it when I am not able? Who can I name as my successor, the Niidaime Namikage?'_ Zabuza thought, the thought had often crossed his mind, he saw the many attempts on the Yondaime Mizukage's life, the title of Kage was a heavy burden, he had to prepare in case of his sudden death. _'Haku, my assistant, strong, smart and the one of the fastest people I have ever seen, __but he is too gentle and pure, he may not be able to bear the dirty turmoil a Kage must face. Unlike Nokoribi, my advisor and Head Ninja, just as strong and able as Haku, but he realises that a ninja's life is dirty, that we are in essence, the personification of murderers. However, like a true ninja, he remains distant and in the shadows, not opening up to the public, how can he lead if the people do not fully know and trust him?'_ Zabuza mused about the two top candidates for succession, however there was a third candidate.

_'Naruto...' _Zabuza thought of the youngest candidate. Three years younger than Haku and eight years younger than Nokoribi, yet Naruto had the largest strength. '_My village's greatest weapon, already showing slight control over the beat inside him, enough to control one tail. And a set of __unique abilities thanks to mine, Nokoribi's and Haku's tutelage. He may just be the one, after all, it's his dream to become Namikage after all.'_ Zabuza chuckled at the blond boy's constant proclamation of himself being the next Namikage repeating a thousand times in his head. _'Come to think of it, I haven't seen him for a few days.._.'

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><p>His blond hair blew lazily in the wind as the waves of the sea gently brushed his feet. Naruto stared off into the horizon on the shores of the leisure industry in Chousekigakure. Much had changed since the day he left Konoha, he no longer stood a frail weak child, he had maintain a thin, lean, yet muscular body, but stood at a better height. He wore a simple white tank top and blue ninja pants, with black ninja sandals. On his head was a headband with the Chousekigakure symbol, forming the simple shape of two pointed waves leading into a swirling third. His blond hair had grown only a couple of inches longer, long enough that the spikes could no longer hold themselves up, so he let them dangle over his head band. White bandages wrapped around his wrists and forearms and over his torso was a brown sash which held his enormous sword, modelled after Zabuza's but lacking the semicircle and full circle cuts out of the blade, the edge also had more of a curve to it than Zabuza's. But the exact of his attempt to model Zabuza came in his teeth, which he had sharpened down to pointed shark-like teeth, the same as Zabuza's.<p>

_'A lot has happened. I have found a place I belong to. I am loved, I am appreciated. Nothing will take this away from me, my friends, my home, my family...'_ Naruto's gaze hardened as he stared off into the sea. He had come to view Zabuza as a father, and Haku and Nokoribi like older brothers. He cared for them, as he knew they cared about him.

"You shouldn't try sneaking up on me like that, Shun." Naruto called out when he felt the sudden presence of another person in the area, stealthily coming from behind, but Naruto grew up with Zabuza, the master of sound, he could hear a pin drop drop 200 metres away.

"I'm not surprised you sensed me, you should teach me that hearing jutsu of yours some time." A calm voice replied from behind him. A boy with pink-red hair stood behind him. A red mask concealed the lower half of his face, revealing only his blue eyes almost as bright as Naruto's. He was dressed completely in red. Wear a red, skin tight sleeveless shirt with a cross section on the right side and red ninja pants leading into near knee high red ninja sandals. It was Shun Tokuda, one year older than Naruto at age 14, he came to this village from out of nowhere and joined a Genin team, Team Kazushi, but it was obvious to all he was a lot stronger than a mere Genin, just like Naruto and the rest of his Rainbow Wave team.

"So Shun, did you confess to Masae yet?" Naruto smirked in a teasing fashion, Naruto knew of Shun's affections for the sky blue haired airhead on his team.

The red ninja tensed up slightly. "S-Shut up." He replied in an almost out of character tone. Usually Shun remained tension free in all situations remaining relaxed and level headed no matter what. Shun sat down next to Naruto, allowing the waves to hit his feet aswell.

Naruto laughed lightly at Shun's response, he and Shun had always remained good friends, despite the fact they were on separate teams and often came into conflict over mission taking, Chousekigakure had little to offer in being requested missions, something that would be rectified shortly when the entire continent would see their strength in the upcoming Chunin Exams.

An icy breeze filled the area, turning around again, Naruto found Haku arriving in front of them via his own personal _**Shunshin**_.

"The Namikage's assistant?" Shun sounded surprised, Haku was never usually seen around the village, he moved at such lightning speeds it was almost impossible to see him, he got a lot of work completed each day and appeared to really love his job.

"Naruto-san, Shun-san. Both of your teams are to participate in the upcoming Chunin Exams in Konoha. Shun please inform Masae-san and Kazue-san. Naruto, gather the rest of the Rainbow Wave and meet me at the Arc. We need to split the Rainbow Wave into two affective teams." Haku spoke quickly before vanishing in a _**Shunshin**_ again.

"Interesting, well it seems the Chunin Exams just got interesting, I hope to see you in the final Naruto." Shun chuckled lightly as he stood up, saluting Naruto with two fingers he vanishing in a swirling _**Shunshin**_, made of fast spinning wind.

However, Naruto's body had tensed upon the mention of that one word, the word that symbolised hate and anger for himself. His face had visibly angered since Haku said it. "Konoha..."

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><p>AN: Hey there! D.G.S here, well that pretty much sums up the origins of Chousekigakure, yeah Zabuza's the Namikage. There's a picture of Nokoribi on my profile, and I shall post a picture of Naruto when more of the Rainbow Wae are revealed and a picture of Shun when his teammates are revealed. Right now they are heading for the Chunin Exams, however I will do some backstories for them at some point, like why the joined Chousekigakure and where they came from.

The Rainbow Wave is Naruto's team, consisting of six ninja. STOP! Let me explain, yes there is only six members and Yes I know that a rainbow has seven colours. Well Isaac Newton only detailed five colours when he first discovered light prism's or whatever, he added Orange to the list and then added Violet (or Indigo I don't really remember) because he lived in a time where seven was God's number and six was the devil's or something like that, it's along those lines I know.

Anyways, working on Demon Lacrima's next chapter and I'm gonna plan a couple of chapters ahead on this, because I rather enjoy this story. Review please! Hope to see you next time, so until then!

D.G.S


	4. Discontinuation

Yo! D.G.S here with some really bad news.

As much as I really want to write this story, I simply can't. And here's why.

My computer fucked up months ago and I lost all my plans for this chapter, including OC details, future eevents and general plot. I tried putting the Hardrive into another computer and extracting the files from there, but it's my harddrive that is messed up, so I don't know how to fix it. I suppose a computer shop might be able to retrieve the files from it. If anyone knows if that is true please let me know, it will speed up continuing the story.

Anyways because of that I can't remember the names of important OCs and their designs, such as the Rainbow Wave, Naruto's team, literally can not recall a single name for them. And frankly the next chapter was pretty much written up, and it was a lot of introductions and descriptions, and I don't want to write that again, nor do I remember what the plan for the chapter was, and I liked their names and the chapter, and if wasn't exactly the same I wouldn't enjoy writing it again.

So unfortunately, until I can recover the Word files, this story is Discontinued, well more like on an indefinate Hiatus, I know it wasn't that popular compared to my other fics, but that might be because it didn't get it's chance to really shine.

My sincerest and deepest apologies to the readers and enjoyers of The Namikage, it really does pain me to write this announcement, but I can't let you keep waiting for another chapter if one might not come.

The story is NOT up for Adoption, and if I can get my plans back it WILL continue. So until then, well I don't know what to say really. This site has some amazing stories hidden amongst the worded crap of some other authors, enjoy them, enjoy my other stories if they take your fancy, but I can't give you a date for this to return simply because I myself don't have one for this story.

Again, my apologies.

D.G.S


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